Dion Leonard fell in love with the dog, named her Gobi and planned to bring her back to his home in Edinburgh, Scotland. Leonard flew back to China to look, launching a media and social media campaign and putting posters up all around the city. Volunteers helped him scour Urumqi, asking guards, taxi drivers, cleaners and fruit vendors, visiting parks and dog shelters, talking to anyone who might have seen the dog. When Gobi went missing, some media reports had highlighted the dog meat trade in China, he said, but that was ridiculous. Recalling the race, he said Gobi had completed four of the six day-long stages of the ultramarathon, running around 125 kilometres with him.

Source: National Post August 25, 2016 12:58 UTC